The difference between Republican extremists and Democrat extremists

This is a quick follow-up to this post about the nature of the GOP these days. (Again, I’m being blunt and generalizing, but largely snark-free.)

Before the comments start about “The Democrats have their own extremists,” (Hi, Rob!) I want to point out this very, very huge difference:

Democrat “extremists”: People should be able to choose who they marry.Republican extremists: People can only marry who we approve.

Democrat “extremists”: We support the president but may disagree.Republican extremists: You must support and agree with the president – unless he’s a Democrat. In which case you must do the opposite.

Democrat “extremists”: People should be able to choose when and how many kids they want.Republican extremists: People cannot choose how many children they have.

Democrat “extremists”: People should be able to worship how they want.Republican extremists: WAR ON CHRISTIANITY!!!1!!!111!!SAY “GOD” AT CHRISTMAS SO THOSE PEOPLE WITH A GODDESS KNOW THEY DON’T COUNT. AND THOSE OTHER RELIGIONS ARE BASED ON VIOLENCE AND DON’T COUNT.

Democrat “extremists”: Campaign finances should be reformed so everyone gets a say.Republican extremists: People with money get more say so shut up.

Democrat “extremists”: Bureaucracy is supposed to slow corruption by making rules.Republican extremists: We need less government regulation when we hire ex-politicians as lobbyists, then hire their firms as contractors.

(See the footnote if you want to argue the last two.

Or in other words, those of us over here on the left tend to think you should be able to live your life, love who you want, and so on. The right’s current rhetoric (and yes, I’m looking at you, Tea Party) is all about freedom – but you can only have the freedom to be like them.

There’s a reason why I put extremist in quotation marks for half of them. Someone telling you that you can do whatever you need to is not an extremist.

Okay, the footnote. Yeah, I know, this happens on the Democrat side of the aisle as well. The degree and sheer blatantness with which it happens on the GOP side is appalling. That’s what I’m basing this judgement on.